Joys of a Commander
by Forever-Luke
Summary: Commander Luke Skywalker and his squadron investigates a distress call from an Old Republic cruiser, which holds many dark secrets that could change the galaxy forever. L. M. Rogues. Post ANH. AU.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: We own nothing.

JOYS OF A COMMANDER.

By

Forever-Luke and The Stormrider

Luke flopped down on his bunk in the room that he shared with Wedge at the hidden rebel base. It had been a long and tiring day and he was glad that it was over. Commander Narra had assigned him the job of putting together a new squadron for the base, he had already picked most of his pilots, Wedge, Wes and a few others had been eager to join, but the whole day had been spent in the sims testing some of the newest pilots that had joined their cause. He'd been happy with some of them and had grabbed them for his squad, but he still had one more space to fill and it was a toss up between three of the better ones.

The tense twi'lek, the corellian hot head or the stiff red-head, what was her name? Jad? Jade? He couldn't remember, honestly, he couldn't care, all he wanted to do was sleep.

"You can't be sleeping commander," a voice drifted to his tired brain, "there's to much corellian ale to drink."

"Wedge, it's been a long day. I'm not in the mood," Luke warned not moving.

"Uh come on, don't go all stiff on us," Wedge said jokingly, "you have to join the party. Celebrate our squad."

"As your commanding officer, I suggest that you leave," Luke replied bluntly.

"Fine, but the others won't like _no_ for an answer." Wedge said turning to go.

"Tuff!"

He heard Wedge leave, sighing with relief he rolled over to sleep, not bothering to shower or change.

He was somewhere in a light doze when the door opened, waking him, two sets of hands grabbed him and dragged him to his feet.

"No time for sleep commander," someone said.

"You haven't been dubbed our leader yet" another said

"Yeah, we have something special planned."

They dragged him out of the room, a blind fold was placed quickly over his eyes and his hands were firmly bound. His captors hustled him quickly down a corridor, he caught a whiff of coolent mixed in with ships exhaust, he was in the hanger bay. He could hear voices around him, then suddenly he was lifted off his feet and carried a short distance.

"Hold your breath Commander," He heard a sultry female voice say next to his ear, he then felt a number of hands strip away his clothes and boots.

"Hey! Let me go!" Luke protested as he was lowered into a tank filled with liquid.

His head was pushed under for a split second, before being yanked back up. They rubbed some sort of foam in his hair, then grabbed him by the arms and hauled him out.

His feet were placed on the ground and his hands freed. He quickly went for the blind fold that covered his eyes.

"Let it rip, Stevens" someone yelled.

Luke's eyes focused on a high pressured hose that was being aimed at him by two of his pilots with delighted smiles on their faces.

He didn't get time to utter a word, they released the valve and a jet of water came shooting at him, hitting him in the chest. He was knocked to the ground and went sliding backwards in a puddle of water.

He slowly picked himself off the floor infuriated, the hanger had gone silent. A snigger cut through the air, then a snort, before the entire bay erupted into laughter.

That's when he noticed the orange water on the ground. He quickly glanced down at himself to find his skin the same colour as his flight suit.

"Alright! Whose idea was this!" Luke yelled, his voice echoed across the hanger bay. The pilots stopped laughing and ran out of the bay, back to their cabins.

"That's a nice look Commander." Came a voice. It was that stiff red-head, Jade.

"Did you have anything to do with this?" He growled. She smirked but was unfazed by the threat in his voice.

"No, I was passing through when I saw the incident." She continued to smirk. "You know orange just isn't your colour, especially with the blue hair."

He sub-consciously grabbed his hair. "Blue! My hair is blue!" Someone was going to suffer for this humiliating joke.

She walked pass him to lean casually up against a fighter, turning to stare at him she smiling fiendishly. "I suggest you put your clothes on, Commander Narra looking for you and I don't think he will be to impressed with what he finds."

Luke stared at his reflection in the mirror, his skin was stained bright orange and his hair a fluro blue. He had scrubbed at his skin to no avail, someone was going to pay for this. The door opened and he heard Wedge start laughing.

"One word Wedge and your outta here," Luke threatened glaring at him.

"Don't be like that commander," he teased trying to contain himself. "You don't look that bad."

"I have fluro hair, Wedge! Fluro hair!" He almost shouted in dismay. "The imps will see me a mile in the dark!"

Wedge couldn't help himself any longer, he collapsed onto the nearest bunk in a fit of laughter.

"That's it, laugh it up!" Luke snapped. "You're all going to regret doing this to me!"

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Commander Skywalker, are you there?" It was Narra.

Luke thought that maybe he could ignore his superior and Narra would leave, but as soon as that thought came to mind it vanished.

Wedge was making enough noise for the both of them, and Narra wouldn't leave until he got a reply.

Well here goes nothing.

Taking a deep breath, he called "Yes Sir. Come in."

The door opened and Commander Narra walked in. He tried desperately to hide his smile, but failed.

"I'd heard the rumours, but wasn't sure as to whether to believe them." He said with a grin, looking Luke up and down. "I must say that they did quite an interesting job."

"Yes, they did." Luke sent an annoyed glare in Wedge's directions, who was holding his stomach, tears in his eyes. "You wanted to see me sir?" he said changing the subject.

"Yes, but it's confidential." He glanced in Antilles direction, who was starting to pull himself together. "In my officer if we could?"

Luke seriously didn't want to walk all that way, especially through the corridors where everyone would see him, but he couldn't refuse his Commander. "Of course Sir."

**Thank you for reading this chapter, please let us know what you thought.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Luke sat in Narra's office, his commander's face was serious but he was sure that he found Luke's appearance funny.

"You have an assignment," Narra said handing Luke a data file. "It seems that a group of pirates have been commissioned by the Imperials to steal something, we want you and your squad to find out what."

"Yes Sir," Luke replied pocketing the file. "When do we leave?"

"0900, you'll be jumping your X-wings to two rendezvous points in the middle of space to lose any tails that you might have, then you'll head onto your final destination," Narra explained. "High Command wants this done on the quiet side and they don't want any unwanted attention. If things get to hot out there then you and your people are to abort the mission, understood?"

"Yes Sir." Luke glanced at the chromo, great only two hours before they had to leave, he hoped his pilots were sober enough after the all-nighter they had had. Luke himself was up most of the night trying to get the dye out and avoid everyone that came knocking on his rooms door. He suddenly realized how tired he was, he would have to catch some sleep in his fighter.

"I suggest that you get moving you don't have a lot of time to prepare," Narra said standing, Luke followed suit. "Good luck, and may the force be with you," he saluted, Luke returned the gesture and heading for the door.

"Oh, and one more thing," called Narra, "I'd noticed that you where short one pilot so I assigned officer Jade to your squadron until this mission is over."

Luke nodded a reply, then left. Once outside he pulled out his com and called Wedge.

"What do you want?" came a groan on the other end, "people are trying to get some sleep."

"Sleep time's over Wedge, we've got a mission," Luke replied. "Round up everybody and meet me in the hanger, we leave in two hours."

"Two hours! You're kidding right?" came the shocked reply.

"Nope. Don't be late." He flipped the com off and headed back to his room to get his flight suit.

...

"Look out there's a walking flight suit, its alive!" cried Wes pointing at the orange skin Luke as he entered the hanger that his squadron was assigned to.

Some of the new pilots started laughing at Janson's joke, but Luke gave them an icily look and they soon shut their mouths. The gathered pilots stood in a cluster around Luke's fighter, the new officer Jade standing a little apart from the group.

"Ok, people we have a mission," Luke announced. "The Empire has commissioned the Red Wing pirate group to steal something from the Trouvians, now as we know this system is not in the Empire or the Alliance, so it is our job to find out what they want. Now we'll be making a series of jumps to lose anyone that might be following, the co-ordinates to the first jump point have already been uploaded into your ships computers, you'll then receive the co-ordinates to the second jump point when we reach the first. Do I make myself clear?" He glared at the still slightly hung over pilots gathered around him, they all nodded. "Alright let's move out." The pilots moved to their respective X-Wings.

Luke wandered towards the ladder of his X-wing, until he noticed Jade still standing next to his fighter. "We have to talk," she said as he turned to her.

"We don't have time to talk, Jade," Luke replied becoming quickly annoyed. "We're about to leave."

"Look. I know these Red Wing pirates, they're not the sort of people you want to mess with," Jade retorted, "If you get in their way they won't hesitate to kill you. And if you survive, they'll personally hunt you down and make you pay."

"Many pirate groups in the galaxy aren't the sort of people you want to mess with," Luke replied, "now get to your fighter." Luke turned to the ladder of his fighter, when Jade grabbed him and pulled him around to face her.

"You're not listening to me," she hissed angrily at him.

He yanked himself from her grip, his eyes narrowing. "No you're not listening to me," he retorted his voice low and dangerous. "I have had a very long and stressful past day, I am quite irritable and ready to blow. High Command has given this squadron a job to do and we are going to do it. So get in your fighter or report to command." With that he climbed into the cockpit of his X-wing and shut the canopy to her angry cursing of him.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see her storming over to her fighter, pulling his tired eyes away from her, he started the engines of the X-wing and waited for clearance from control.

...

Luke sighed and sat back in the seat of his fighter, he stared out at the swirls of hyperspace. "R2, can you bring up the file for Lt. Jade please." R2 beeped his response and the new pilots file came up on his screen. Luke studied it, how did she know so much about the Red Wing Pirates. There were a lot blank spaces in her file, thou it did say that she had lived the past five years in the outer rims, perhaps she had been involved with the pirates or someone close to the pirates. If she had been she would most likely never tell him, whatever the reason was he would keep an eye on her.

"R2 I'm going to get some sleep, wake me when we get to the first jump, okay," R2 beeped an affirmative. Luke leaned his head back in the headrest and closed his eyes, before long he fell asleep.

The trip to the first jump point had not taken long, but the one to the second point had been sightly longer, Luke sat in his cockpit and watched as the remainder of his squadron dropped out of hyperspace. Moments later Wedge's voice came over the coms, "okay boss everyone's here and waiting for those last coordinates."

"Coming to you now," Luke replied pressing the button that would send his pilots the next and last location they needed, suddenly a red light started blinking on his controls and R2 twittered.

"A distress beacon?" Luke frowned at the display as a series of numbers and letters scrolled across it.

"Hey boss, are you getting this?" Wedge commed from his fighter.

"Yeah but it seems to be scramble, it doesn't make any sense," Luke replied, "R2 get a fix on the location of where it's coming from." R2 beeped and went to work.

"It could be a trap," Jade said, "the pirates in this part of space sometimes setup distress calls or beacon to lure ships into an ambush."

"And how would you know something like that?" Luke asked suspiciously.

"Most cargo freighters and its crew that use this region know what trick the pirates use," Jade replied edgily, "and not that it's any of your business, but I did a few runs on a cargo ship a couple of years ago."

Luke was about to reply when R2 beeped, "say that again R2?" A set of numbers scroll across the display. Luke looked at the numbers, it was the location of the distress beacon, only half a days travel from here, he observed, they could go check it out and then be on their way to their mission and not be too late. It would be the right thing to do, especially if the call was genuine.

"Alright listen up, here is what we're going to do," Luke called to his pilots, "half of us will go and check out this beacon and the other half will go ahead and wait at the assigned location. Antilles, Janson, Klivian, Celchu and Jade you will be coming with me to see what this beacon is, Stevens you will be in charge of the others until I get back. Understood?" There was a series of acknowledgements. "Good, now let's get moving."

...

The six X-wings sat in deep space, staring out at the lifeless cruiser that hung in the middle of no where. "She dead alright," comment Wedge checking the scanners, "no power, life support is down to half, doesn't appear to be any life, but my scanners are picking up a little heat."

"She looks old, probably clone wars issue," Tycho said.

"There's something not right about it," Jade spoke up.

"It's your call boss," Wedge said to Luke.

Luke sat in his fighter silent, undecided. They had been given a mission, a mission that they should be doing right now, but something at the back of his mind was telling him to investigate the cruiser, it was also telling him that it agreed with Jade. Something did feel wrong about this cruiser.

"Boss?" Wedge's voice came again.

"Something's telling me that this ship needs checking and that it might be dangerous," Luke announced to his pilots, "I'm going to give you all a choice, I'm heading aboard the thing so you can either come with me or you can continue on to the rendezvous point. It's your call, I won't hold it against you." The others where quiet a moment, considering his proposal.

Wedge was the first to speak. "You're going to need someone to watch your back, so I'm in."

"Thanks," Luke replied.

"And you're definitely going to need some one to watch your front," Janson piped up, "that's the part that gets shot at the most."

"Welcome aboard Wes," Luke sighed.

"I'm already here so why not," Tycho answered.

"I'm in too," Hobbie said. "It might be fun."

They all waited for Jade's replied.

"You're all mad, you know that," she said.

"So what's it going to be?" Luke asked.

A sigh echoed over the com. "Fine, I'm in," she answered reluctantly.

"Then it's settled, lets go."

**AN: Sorry for the long wait.**

**Big thankyou to everyone that reads and reviews this chapter and the last.**

**I'll be honest and say that the next chapter may take sometime to be updated as real life is demanding. **

**But thankyou all again for liking this story, hope it is still enjoyable, sorry that there isn't more in the near future.**

** :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**(Disclaimer: I own nothing star wars related in this story)**

**First I want to apologize for taking two and a half years to update this story. My friend and I are no longer writing together so most of the below is my work. And the future chapters will be my work also. **

**Thank you to all for your patience's and for all the reviews. **

**Hope you enjoy. :)**

* * *

**-: 3 :-**

The cruiser hung in space like an enormous decaying beast, floating in the middle of a black starry ocean. The six small fighters flew toward it, the pilots cautiously keeping their eyes on their sensors for the any sign of trouble.

"I'm still not picking up any life," Wedge called over the com.

"My sensors indicate hull damage, but not from a fire fight, probably from asteroids?" Janson said.

"There's no asteroid field nearby, and the closes system is light years away," retorted Jade.

"Well it could have drifted here from that system," Janson stated. "It is an old ship."

"It doesn't matter," Luke spoke up stopping an argument before it started. "Look, the hanger doors are open," he pointed out. "We can dock in there."

"But that hanger's complete vacuum," Jade said, not liking the situation one bit.

"That is why they invented space suits," Luke answered her, sarcasm in his voice. The more time he spent with her the more he didn't like her, or trust her for that matter. As soon as they got back to the Rebel Base, he would be glad to get rid of her off his squad.

"Funny," she retorted unimpressed.

"If you're too scared, you're welcome to stay out here and wait," he added, though something told him that she wouldn't.

"For the record Skywalker, I don't scare easily," she informed him, irritation evident in her voice.

"Glad to hear it," he answered. "And Jade, it's commander to you."

"Yes sir!" Now it was her turn to be sarcastic, which bugged him even more.

"I don't mean to butt into your happy hour, but are we going to dock or not?" Janson piped up, before either Luke or Jade could continue.

"Yes we're going to dock," Luke answered. "Prep your fighters."

Switching off the com he called to his astromech droid. "R2 get her ready for landing."

R2 responded with his usual beeps and whistles as the lettering scrolled across the computer screen. As Luke read the last of the message he sighed, feeling tired again. "Yes R2 I'm still in a bad mood."_ And I will continue to be until I am no longer orange and blue_, he thought sullenly.

R2 beeped again.

Glancing at the display Luke replied, "good, let's take it in steady." Turning the com back on he spoke into it again. "I'll head in first, you lot keep your distance until we know it's safe. I'll com you when you can start your landing."

"Roger that boss," Wedge called back. "We'll be waiting."

"Okay, I'm heading in."

The landing when off without a hitch, and the hanger appeared void off trouble. After signalling the others, Luke suited up and climbed out of his x-wing. Stepping onto the deck he turned and surveyed the area, there were no sign of any ships or fighters, and he couldn't see any droids or machinery, the bay was completely empty.

The atmosphere had an eerie feel to it, making him uneasy.

After a few minutes the others arrived and grouped around him, dressed their vacuum suits.

"This place is massive!" Wedge whistled looking around them.

"It gives me the creeps," Hobbie murmured, hand drifting to his blaster at his side.

"Yeah, just like the Museum of Horrors on Plor 9, remember that?" Janson said with a smile, elbowing Hobbie.

"I try not too," Hobbie replied.

"Should we even ask?" Tycho questioned, raising an eyebrow beneath his helmet.

"I'd rather you didn't," answered Hobbie.

"It doesn't matter," Jade said. She turned to stare at their commander. "What are we looking for?" she asked him.

"I'm not sure," Luke replied, his thoughts preoccupied. There was something odd about the ship, he could just sense it through the force, faint vibrations of something being wrong, a danger. Even though he was still learning how to use his abilities, he knew what he was feeling wasn't good.

"How about we split up, give the decks a quick sweep, see if we can find anything," Wedge suggested after Luke didn't answer.

"Right, good idea," Luke agreed snapping out of his daze. "Alright we'll split into three groups. Wedge, you and Tycho head down to the lower decks. Wes and Hobbie, you two search the middle, while Jade and I will take the upper decks."

"Sounds like a plan then," Wedge commented.

"And keep in contact," Luke added. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this place."

"You get a bad feeling about any dark and spooky places," Wes smiled at him.

"Did you really have to team me up with him?" Hobbie complained as Wes grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the nearest door.

"Come on Hobbie, let's go see what ghosts we can find," Wes was saying.

"Guess we'll head off too," Wedge said.

After the others had gone Luke looked at Jade. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," she replied.

"This way then."

They set off heading for the upper decks.

Moving through the levels the pair made their way upwards, heading for the bridge, and information that was hopefully stored in the logs there.

The corridors of the ship were just as empty as the hanger, and many of the rooms that they glance in only held the basics of furniture and equipment. There were no personal items or datapads, clothing or armour. Not even weapons and droids could be found. It was as if the ship had been new out of the shipyards and had not been stocked or crewed yet.

Everything was pitch-black, except for the pale orange glow of the emergency lights that lit the hallways, and the areas where they shone their glowrods. Many doors hung wide open like gaping mouths, the content hidden in the blackness until a light revealed them.

Now and then Luke would get the urge to look behind him, but when he did he saw nothing. He had the strange feeling that they were being followed, watched, though no one was there and the surveillance recorders all sat silent.

Jade had stayed close to Luke, only straying far enough to have a better look in some of the rooms. "I don't like this," she said over the suit's com as they continued to walk.

"You don't seem to like much," Luke commented dryly, stretching out with the force to try and get a better feel of the place.  
Jade shot him a look that could have melted his helmet. "Where are the people, the droids? There's no sign that anyone has ever been here."

Luke had to agree with Jade, there should be something that gave them an indication that the ship had been used, but there wasn't. It didn't add up.

"Perhaps they all left," Luke suggested, glancing in another room.

"Droids too?" She questioned.

"Yeah," Luke murmured, suddenly not paying attention to her. He immediately got a whisper in the force, it was just up ahead and getting closer.

"In here!" he grabbed Jade by the arm and yanked her through an open door.

"What are you doing?" she demanded jerking her arm free.

"Shhh! Someone's coming!" he hissed back, holding his blaster ready.

"How do you know?"

"I... I just do," he retorted not wanting to get into a long debate over the force with her "They're getting closer."

"And what do you suggest we do," she asked, not really believing him.

Luke could feel the whisper getting closer. "On my signal, we jump out and surprise them."

"Fine by me." Jade positioned herself opposite to Luke on the door and held her blaster at the ready.

Luke waited until the being was only a couple of metres away before giving the signal. They both jumped out into the corridor, weapons aimed high, pointing in the direction they had been heading, but there was nothing there. Jade spun making sure that no one was behind them, but found nothing.

"So where is this individual of yours?" she asked staring at him, putting a hand on her hip.

"I…" Luke stretched out with the force again but could not find anything, the feeling had gone. "It's no longer there," he murmured. "I don't understand."

"Maybe it was a ghost," she smirked. "The rumours did say that you're a bit odd."

Luke glared at her. "I sensed something, I'm sure of it," he said.  
"Let's keep moving, maybe it will come back," she said humouring him a little, before starting off again.

Luke stretched out with his senses trying to find what he had felt, but it was gone. Glancing over his shoulder at the distance corridor, his eyes drifted to one of the recorders sitting on the wall. It stared back with its black glassy eye, quiet, motionless, but its gaze sent a shiver down his spine.

"Are you coming?" Jade called impatiently over the com, waiting several metres ahead.

"Yes," Luke replied. Looking at the device one last time, he turned and headed after Jade.

* * *

**Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed this. It is much appreciated.**

**Just a few questions concerning Jade's character. What would you prefer?**

**(a) Mara Jade the Emperor's Hand? or (b) A Mara Jade who never meant the Emperor?**

**Also since I'm doing this story myself, I've kind of got a vague idea of where it is heading, but I am interested in any suggestion or ideas that you would like to see in the future chapters. I can't promise that I will be able to add them all, but I'm open for thoughts if anyone has any.**

**And as for Plor 9, if anyone wants to do a fic about Wes and Hobbies adventures there they are welcomed to. I just made the name up, so I don't know if it is copyrighted or not. (But strangely the name seem familiar some how?)**


End file.
